A patient has been given an emergency bedside wedding after catching a life-threatening bug that required high-risk surgery.

Dawne Le Good, 51, from Southgate, was taken to the Royal Free Hospital following a heart attack, when she developed an infection similar to the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis.

It is a condition that requires urgent surgery - and she was seen by the surgical team on the cardiac ward who planned to operate that same night.

But because she was still recovering from her heart attack, doctors thought Ms Le Godd might not survive the surgery.

Ms Le Good, who is a graphic designer, said: “I was very scared.

“They explained that they didn’t know whether I would survive the operation, but I definitely wouldn’t survive without it so we knew we had to go ahead.

“I was also thinking of my daughter Emily who was on a school trip to Berlin. I felt how far away she was and I was devastated that I might not see her again.”

With the risky surgery imminent, Ms Le Good and her partner Bill Pope decided to get married.

After quick thinking from the nurses, they provided the couple with as many trappings of a wedding as they could get at short notice.

Lauren Mitchell, ward sister, rang round local councils to find out whether the couple could get an out-of-hours emergency marriage licence.

But since an official wedding was not possible, trust chaplain Claire Carson came to the ward to give them a blessing just before Dawne went in for surgery.

The nurses also bought the couple a bouquet and some alcohol-free bubbly- and fashioned Bill a corsage.

Ms Mitchell said: “It was late at night so we just had to do the best we could. We popped down to the shop to get some bubbly and some flowers and I was ringing around the local councils to see if we arrange a short-notice wedding.

“Unfortunately, that couldn’t be arranged so we asked the chaplain Claire to come and perform a ceremony.”

Mr Pope added: “Even though we are not religious, it was so nice to have this ceremony. It was so lovely, having gone through what we went through, it was wonderful to have this brightness.

“The nurses are amazing people. All their different strengths, to know that there were these people caring for us. That’s an amazing quality.”

Thankfully the surgery had been a success – and following a further operation, Dawne recovered in the intensive care unit, before being transferred to an ordinary ward. She is now recovering at home.

The couple also found the bug that had developed had nothing to do with her heart attack. If Dawne had not been in hospital when she got it, she might not have survived.

Mr Pope said: “At every stage we felt that we were so lucky.

“When Dawne had her heart attack Emily and I were at home. If she’d had it 15 minutes later she would have been on her own.

“Because we were there we were able to give her CPR - the paramedics on the phone told us how it should be done.

“The ambulance arrived extremely quickly and they able to take her straight to the Royal Free Hospital so she could have a stent fitted.”

Consultant cardiologist Dr Tim Lockie was the doctor in charge of Dawne’s care when she first came to the Royal Free Hospital.

He said: “We were worried about how Dawne’s heart would cope with the surgery but then it got to the point when it was critical that the operation went ahead.

“We’re so pleased that Dawne has made a recovery. It’s an amazing story – one thing I would like to emphasise is how important it is for people to learn CPR – it really can save someone’s life.”

Dawne and Bill are now planning a real wedding so they can celebrate with family and friends.